Tiernan Lynch says he never lost faith in his title-chasing Larne side despite a difficult couple of weeks.
The Invermen saw their lead at the top of the Irish Premiership cut and were also dumped out of the Irish Cup with questions starting to be asked of them.
But they bounced back in style with a dominant 2-0 win over Glentoran on Friday night, extending their lead at the summit to seven points after nearest challengers Linfield could only draw at home to Crusaders.
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Lynch was delighted with the win and the performance from his players, who had the points sealed by half-time thanks to goals from Michael Glynn and Lee Bonis, but he said it was nothing more than he expected from his team.
"There were a lot of very open and honest conversations during the week," he revealed.
"I told them on the Monday that I didn't feel any different after the result, they are the best team I've ever worked with.
"They are the most honest and hard-working team I've ever worked with.
"The boys knew they had to put things right and it was typical of them that they went and did it.
"We looked hungry and got numbers forward from the start, there was a good tempo and desire...all the things that we're about.
"When you're on top it's important that you get goals.
"We were very dominant in our possession last week but there was no real penetration.
"We got that tonight though, and even in the second half if our final ball had been better we could have done more.
"We let ourselves down last week against Ballymena, we let our fans down.
"It was important we got back to what we are good at, that's just honesty and hard work. I couldn't be more proud of them tonight."
With four games left to play Larne are now closing in on a first-ever league title.
A win over Cliftonville on Tuesday night coupled with defeat for the Blues on Wednesday would secure the Gibson Cup, but Lynch isn't getting carried away just yet.
"People talk about looking around you or behind you, but you'll get a crick in your neck," he said.
"It's about looking forward because we can only control what we do.
"We have to focus on getting our preparation right for going into Cliftonville on Tuesday, that's all we'll be thinking about.
"They are a top team with a top manager, and they are always there or thereabouts.
"We know exactly what we will be getting at this stage of the season.
"It's the business end and it's life or death for most teams, we have to prepare ourselves for that."
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